Special Report: Energy Transition Minerals is considering its options after the Greenland Government declined to extend an exploration licence covering its Kvanefjeld rare earths project.
The company originally lodged the licence renewal request last September through its Greenlandic subsidiary.
On June 15 this year, Energy Transition Minerals (ASX:ETM) provided a detailed response to the Ministry of Business and Mineral Resources following a party consultation process which began in April.
The Ministry specified two further geological memoranda on June 22 requiring the company’s response within 48 hours.
A one-week extension to facilitate a considered response was declined by the Ministry.
According to ETM, the compressed timeframe prevented full consideration of exploration results from Kvanefjeld’s 2025 season, which only became available this month.
These results identified 10 new rare earths mineralised zones across the licence area, including a 1.8km trend with uranium concentrations below the 100 parts per million threshold that prohibits uranium mining under Greenland’s Uranium Act.
Management says this new data was not adequately considered in the Ministry’s decision.
ETM believes the review process has fallen short of reasonable standards of procedural fairness and is reviewing the Ministry’s verdict with its legal advisers.
It also noted that the exploration licence had already been extended previously after Greenland’s Uranium Act came into force in 2021.
“The Ministry had nine months to review our request for extension of the licence, then imposed a tight deadline and declined a reasonable extension request,” said ETM managing director Daniel Mamadou.
“It also disregarded our own recent data showing uranium below the threshold set by Greenland’s own law.”
“The cost of that falls first on the local area: this project would bring jobs, training and revenue to Narsaq and to Greenland, and that opportunity is being held back.”
Kvanefjeld overview
The latest developments are separate from ETM’s ongoing legal proceedings that challenge the Uranium Act’s application to Kvanefjeld, currently pending before the Greenland High Court.
In late August, the Court is expected to decide which defendants will remain in the proceedings. It has fixed October 23, 2026, as the deadline for the remaining defendants’ statements regarding the substance of the case.
The Greenland authorities have indicated that the Kvanefjeld licence area will not be reallocated to other companies whilst relevant proceedings remain unresolved.
Kvanefjeld represents one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earths deposits.
It includes significant amounts of neodymium and praseodymium, which are used in EVs, wind turbines and clean energy tech.
The 2025 exploration campaign also unveiled high grades of dysprosium and terbium – two of the most critical heavy rare earth elements for magnet production.
Management remains confident in the underlying value and strategic significance of Kvanefjeld and intends to pursue relevant legal and commercial avenues to realise that value for shareholders.
It believes up to 15% of the global supply of rare earths could come from the project if it became operational.
Management also plans to continue engagement with relevant stakeholders regarding the regulatory environment in Greenland and potential implications for investment in the jurisdiction’s resources sector.
This article was developed in collaboration with Energy Transition Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.